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Pakistan and religious violence debated in Parliament as Jihadists murder Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich

Posted by David Alton on

At the very moment when the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby was taking place in Woolwich, the House of Lords had just begun a debate about religious violence in Pakistan.

Pakistan: Religious Violence
Read full debate at:
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/hansard/lords/todays-lords-debates/read/grandcommittee/740/

Question for Short Debate
2 pm May 22nd 2013

2.15 pm

Lord Alton of Liverpool:

My Lords, the combination of inadequate religious freedom protections and an entrenched climate of impunity has strengthened the position of the more violent groups in Pakistani society, described by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, which have long been allowed to promote their own interpretation of Islam, narrowing the space for difference. What begins as an anti-minority sentiment can later divide the majority.
The noble Lords, Lord Avebury and Lord Desai, rightly referenced the alarming growth of anti-Shia violence in Pakistan. In 2012, at least 325 members of the Shia Muslim population were killed in targeted attacks. In this context, counterextremism discussions with Pakistan are clearly incomplete without measures intended to bolster the protection and promotion of religious freedom or belief. Pursuant to the Written Answer that the Minister gave me on 17 May, I would be keen to know when we will raise these questions with the new Government.
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and anti-Ahmadi provisions remain key concerns. The blasphemy laws lack any definition of terms and ignore the question of intent. False accusations can be easily registered, as evidential requirements are inadequate. Dozens were charged in 2012 and at least 16 people remain on death row for blasphemy, while another 20 have been given life sentences. In 2010, Asia Bibi, a Christian from Punjab province, became the first woman in Pakistan’s history to be sentenced to death for blasphemy, and continues to languish in prison. Can the Minister tell us when we last raised her case with the authorities in Pakistan? The resolution of last year’s case against the Christian teenager Rimsha Masih was cited by Pakistan as an illustration that the situation is improving, but the subsequent blasphemy-related attacks on hundreds of Christian homes in Badami Bagh in Lahore in March this year suggests otherwise.
Access to justice is problematic for all vulnerable communities in Pakistan, including minorities. Perpetrators are rarely brought to justice, which means that minorities are often viewed as easy targets. Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, Shias, Sufis and Sikhs have all been badly affected, with Shia communities suffering by far the most casualties. Hate speech and the propagation of inflammatory messages is a standard precursor to religiously motivated violence, but it is rarely punished in Pakistan, despite the fact that relevant legislation already exists. Even government officials inciting violence have not been held accountable for their actions.
The police and members of the judiciary need to be made far more aware of human rights and the unacceptability of impunity. In the aftermath of the Badami Bagh violence, many commented that it would not have taken place if the perpetrators of previous mob incidents—Gojra in 2009, Sangla Hill in 2005, Shanti Nagar in 1997—had been adequately dealt with. Official investigation reports exist for at least the high-profile cases. Will the Minister be pressing the incoming Government to make these public, or indeed to shed light on the murder of the federal Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, whose killers have never been identified? If the case of an assassinated Cabinet Minister remains unsolved, how can ordinary citizens have faith in the justice system and why should potential attackers fear the law?
Knowing that he was likely to be assassinated, Shahbaz Bhatti once said that he hoped his stand would send,
“a message of hope to the people living a life of disappointment, disillusionment and despair”,
adding that his life was dedicated to the “oppressed, downtrodden and marginalised” and to,
“struggle for human equality, social justice, religious freedom, and to uplift and empower the religious minorities’ communities”.
Will we be pressing for an end to impunity and the repeal of the anti-Ahmadi provisions in the constitution, which legitimise violence and social prejudice? What will we be saying about gender-based violence, the abduction, forced marriage and forcible conversion of Christian and Hindu women and girls, which has increased in frequency in the past couple of years, with perpetrators emboldened by the relatively low likelihood of conviction? We have heard about the increase in aid provision this year from £267 million to £446 million, with Pakistan about to become the largest recipient of UK aid. What are we going to do in using that aid to press for the removal of hate-driven material from schools and emphasising the importance of forming teachers who nurture respect and tolerance? Donors such as the UK need to be sure that they are not inadvertently funding materials that bolster messages of religious intolerance and violence in Pakistan.
In 1947, at the time of partition, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, gave a speech to the New Delhi Press Club, setting out the basis on which the new state of Pakistan was to be founded. In it, he forcefully defended the rights of minorities to be protected and to have their beliefs respected. He said:
“Minorities, to whichever community they may belong, will be safeguarded. Their religion, faith or belief will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind with their freedom of worship. They will have their protection with regard to their religion, faith, their life and their culture. They will be, in all respects, the citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste and creed”.
Pakistan’s new Government owe it to his memory, and to the memory of men such as Shahbaz Bhatti, and to girls such as Malala Yousufzai, the 15 year-old who was shot by the Taliban for pressing for the right of women to an education, and to the millions who bravely defied the Taliban to vote in recent elections in Pakistan, to make those sentiments a reality.
2.21 pm

Shahbaz Bhatti - Pakistan's outstanding Minister for Minorities murdered two years ago.

Shahbaz Bhatti – Pakistan’s outstanding Minister for Minorities murdered two years ago.

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Listen to Ooberfuse “His Blood Cries Out” – in memory of Shahbaz Bhatti:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABOIQfhyh1g

Chen Guagncheng’s Visit To the UK – Chen is presented with the Westminster Award for Human Rights, Human Life and Human Dignity.

Posted by David Alton on

Cheng Guangcheng and his wife come to the House of Lords

Cheng Guangcheng and his wife come to the House of Lords

Cheng Guangcheng and his wife in Parliament's Westminster Hall

Cheng Guangcheng and his wife in Parliament’s Westminster Hall

China's coercive One Child Policy Discussed at Westminster in the Grand Committee Room

China’s coercive One Child Policy Discussed at Westminster in the Grand Committee Room

"It's a girl - the three most dangerous words in the world."

“It’s a girl – the three most dangerous words in the world.”

"The only country in the world where it is illegal to have a brother or a sister."

“The only country in the world where it is illegal to have a brother or a sister.”

Chen is awarded the Westmintser Award for Human Rights Human Life and Human Dignity

Chen is awarded the Westmintser Award for Human Rights Human Life and Human Dignity

Chen is awarded the Westminster Award for Human Rights Human Life and Human Dignity. It was presented by Fiona Bruce MP and Lord Alton on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Pro Life Group and the All Party working Group for human Dignity. The Award was sponsored by Right To Life and the meeting was sponsored by RTL, Life, Care, Epiphany Trust and Jubilee Campaign

Chen is awarded the Westminster Award for Human Rights Human Life and Human Dignity. It was presented by Fiona Bruce MP and Lord Alton on behalf of the All Party Parliamentary Pro Life Group and the All Party working Group for human Dignity. The Award was sponsored by Right To Life and the meeting was sponsored by RTL, Life, Care, Epiphany Trust and Jubilee Campaign

http://davidalton.net/2013/04/07/chinas-one-child-policy-official-figures-reveal-that-336-million-women-have-been-aborted-37-million-more-men-than-women-as-campaign-of-gendercide-unbalances-the-population/

A shocking report in The Financial Times has finally revealed the true extent of China’s one child policy – a policy which has resulted in a massive imbalance between young men and women and which has targeted girls babies in a relentless campaign of gendercide. Over decades, using taxpayers’ money, this is a policy which has been indirectly aided and abetted by successive British Governments.

The report – which is based on official data from the Communist Party’s own health ministry – suggests that Chinese doctors have undertaken over 330m abortions during the 40 years since China began to implement the one child policy.

First introduced in 1971 I began to challenge the policy in 1980, after my election to the House of Commons and over the years which have followed I have questioned the millions of pounds which Conservative and Labour Governments – enthusiastically supported by the Liberals and then Liberal Democrats – have poured into agencies which have, in turn, funded the Communist Party’s Chinese Population Association.

At one memorable meeting with a Secretary of State for International Development the air was blue with undeleted expletives and four letter words as I was accused of undermining development policies which relied on population control. I told the politician concerned that we should be attacking poverty not people and that it was an egregious violation of the rights of women when they are forcibly aborted or sterilised. For the UK to have channelled money into agencies which have in turn funded those carrying out coercive population measures makes us collaborators in these violations.

Some years after that meeting, during a visit to China, and in conversation with Chinese officials, I was surprised when they privately gave me quiet encouragement in opposing the one-child policy.

In Beijing there was also more sympathy than I had anticipated when I took up the case of Chen Guangchen, the blind human rights activist who had single-handedly exposed the forced abortion of over 120,000 women in the Shandong province.

While Chen Guangchen was incarcerated during a four year prison sentence – and then kept under house arrest – I told senior Chinese officials that I thought that one day Chen would be seen as a national hero. It was striking that no one contradicted me or shouted me down. Of course, many officials have suffered under these policies too. Hardly anyone in China is unaffected.

Chen’s bravery and the clarity with which he saw the economic and demographic consequences of a policy which evaded sighted people gradually opened the space for more honest debate within the country.

The micro-bloggers in China – some of whom I recently met in London – took up Chen’s case and began to question the policy. One of those bloggers has more than 5 million followers and is able to exert much greater influence than party cadres. In the absence of a free press the bloggers represent the best hope for changing opinion and attitudes.

Clearly this more open debate, and public exposure of horrifying stories like that of a women coercively aborted, and whose seven month unborn baby was then left by her side on her bed, as a warning not to become pregnant again, are having a radicalising effect on the population.

The scale of what has been done is phenomenal. Since 1971, Chinese doctors have aborted 336m women and undertaken 196m sterilisations. 403m intrauterine devices have been inserted into women, often without their consent.

The Chinese say that their population of 1.3 billion would be about 30% bigger if they had not pursued these draconian policies. Elsewhere, when poverty and infant mortality are reduced population has fallen naturally.

By comparison, since legal abortion was introduced in America in 1973, in a country about a quarter of China’s size, around 50 million abortions have been undertaken. In the UK, with a population of around 60 million, the figure is 7 million abortions.

The attrition rate in China has not been getting better.

The official figures show that since the 1990s around 7 million babies are aborted every year, around 2 million men and women have been sterilised, and another 7 million women have been required to have intra uterine devices fitted.

For years economic analysts have been warning about the imbalances and distortions which this policy has created. The official data now confirms the inevitable. Not only are there 37 million more Chinese men than women, globally the sex-selection abortion of little girls means that between 100 million and 200 million females are missing in the world. But there are other implications of this social engineering.

The ratio of children and retirees shows that for the first time the one is less than the other – meaning that (as in child-poor Europe) there simply will not be the children to support those who have retired. One Chinese economist, Ken Peng, said: “This makes China’s population look more like a developed country than a developing one, which is a key disadvantage in labour-intensive industries,”

The new Chinese leadership has hinted that it will introduce some welcome reforms – such as the dismantling of the network of re-education centres which indoctrinate citizens in Communist Party beliefs. Some observers also think they may also re-examine the one child policy.

One commentator, Mr He Yafu, has suggested that one likely change to family planning rules would be to permit two children for parents who were both single children themselves. He said that the policy, in place on a trial basis in some cities, could be implemented nationwide. But he added that such a modest change would not be enough to deal with the accelerating problem on an aging and unbalanced population; and even these modest changes have been attacked by die-hard officials in the Communist Party’s family planning secretariat.

Yan Yuxue argued that “the idea of easing the ageing problem by increasing the fertility rate is like drinking poison to quench thirst.”

So, despite the more open criticism of this appalling policy we should not assume that it will simply disappear without a fight.
Nor should we be seduced by the argument that the Chinese Government may allow some couples to have two children. The key question is not the number of children but the principle of State interference in the intimate life of a family and the coercion which the State uses to enforce limits. Even with a two-child policy, women will still be subject to forced abortion if they get pregnant without a birth permit.

And, of course, a “two-child policy” rather than a “one child policy” will not discourage gendercide, the sex-selective abortion of baby girls. There is already plenty of evidence of rampant gendercide in those districts where couples can have a second child if their first is female. Forced abortion up to the ninth month of pregnancy, and gendercide – the sex-selective abortion of baby girls – will undoubtedly persist until China abolishes all coercive birth limits.

What amazes me is that those who would normally be so outspoken against cruel abuses of human rights, and against discriminatory practices targeted at women, have been so quiet for so long. The moment abortion or population are mentioned the shutters come down and the world simply looks the other way as 330 million women are forcibly aborted.
——————————————————————————————————

Speaking during Chen’s visit to the Westminster Parliament, David Alton said:

While others remained silent, Chen courageously dared to speak out against China’s coercive one child policy – which has led to 330 million abortions and to 37 million more men than women. Today, in China, the three most dangerous words are “It’s a girl.”

Chen’s stand against this egregious violation of human rights led to four years imprisonment, then to house arrest, and then to a death defying escape from China. Today, Chen’s relatives, whom he had to leave behind, continue to be intimidated and attacked by local officials.

It took this blind man to see and to challenge what political leaders chose not to see. His bravery and his suffering, in the cause of human rights and human dignity, shames those who implemented these polices and those in the West who have aided and abetted them.

Chen’s bravery and the clarity with which he saw the human, economic, and demographic consequences of a policy which evaded sighted people has gradually opened the space for more honest debate within the country.‬

‪Official figures show that since the 1990s around 7 million babies are aborted every year, around 2 million men and women have been sterilised, and another 7 million women have been required to have intra uterine devices fitted. ‬There have been over 330m abortions during the 40 years since China began to implement the one child policy.‬

‪
‪This has led to population imbalances and distortions. The official data now confirms that not only are there 37 million more Chinese men than women, (contributing to the 100- 200 million girls estimated to have been aborted globally in sex selection abortions) but there are other implications of this social engineering.‬

‪Economists point to the ratio of young to old and to the loss of labour needed to sustain development. It also leads to the emasculation of family structures, to “little emperor’s syndrome” and to other unwelcome social phenomena such as human trafficking.

‪

While Chen Guangchen was incarcerated during a four year prison sentence – and then kept under house arrest – I travelled to China and told senior Chinese officials that I thought that one day Chen would be seen as a national hero. It was striking that no one contradicted me or shouted me down. Of course, many officials have suffered under these policies too. Hardly anyone in China is unaffected.‬ But, while others remained silent it was Chen who had the bravery to speak out and to challenge this inhumane, misguided and cruel policy. China is a great country and it is home to many great people – but its coercive population policies diminishes its greatness and its new leaders should make it a priority to change this policy.

Chen’s current situation can be found here:

China: Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng’s Relatives Receive Death Threats

http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/blog/?p=1058

There is a wealth of historical information about Chen Guangcheng here:
http://www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org/index.php?nav=chen-guangcheng

Drama and Music To Make Us Think: Disability Hate Crime, Religious Persecution, Bullying, Relationships, the Holocaust, North Korea, Scapegoating of Minorities...

Posted by David Alton on

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   A theatre company, consisting primarily, but not exclusively, of actors with learning disabilities, recently came to Westminster to perform their play “Living with Fear” – and in one short hour achieved more in raising awareness about disability hate crime than any number of speeches delivered in Parliament.

   Drama has an extraordinary capacity to move, to touch, and to reach people and this production by Blue Apple Theatre made me reflect on both the issue which the company explored and on the way in which they succeeded in catching my attention.

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North Korea Freedom Week - New book was launched at House of Lords on May 21st and published on May 24th

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Listen to Vanish The Night by Ooberfuse (featuring the voice of Shin Dong Hyok who was born in Camp 14 and witnessed the execution of his mother and brothers):


See also:

http://davidalton.net/2013/04/10/interview-on-north-korea-april-10th-2013/

To order, use your local bookshop or Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Bridges-Towards-Peaceful-Future/dp/0745955983/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367617827&sr=1-1&keywords=Building+Bridges+David+Alton

Op-Ed article for The Catholic Herald April 2013

Last month I was in Burma. In the past I had entered the country illegally but this time I had a visa.

Read more… 1,360 more words

www.bbc.co.uk/radiomerseyside/programmes/a-z/by/d/current Radio Merseyside interview about Building Bridges.

Mesothelioma – 56,000 more deaths predicted – More Research Needed To Find A Cure – Debate in Parliament.

Posted by David Alton on

Mesothelioma Bill [HL]

Second Reading

8.44 pm May 20th 2013.

Lord Alton of Liverpool: My Lords, in his opening speech, the Minister benchmarked our knowledge of mesothelioma to 1965. In that year, the Sunday Times reported on how an epidemiological investigation by Newhouse and Thompson for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine had shed light on the origins and nature of mesothelioma, finally laying to rest the scepticism of some pathologists who had until

20 May 2013 : Column 714

that time disputed its existence or its long period of hibernation, although more than three decades earlier, in 1930, the Merewether report had warned of a latency for asbestosis of some 25 years. Therefore, no one can reasonably claim that the industry, the Government or employers did not understand the risks that workers faced, although, scandalously, insurers routinely destroyed records during that period. That was not market failure-the phrase mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury.

The 1965 report to which the Minister referred found that the interval between exposure and development of the fatal tumour ranged between 16 and 55 years. One case highlighted the fate of a woman who had died after brushing the white asbestos dust off her husband’s dungarees and work clothes when he returned from work every night. In 1965, it was discovered that even very brief exposure to the dust could prove lethal.

That was 50 years ago and despite assurances that research would be undertaken, there is still no cure. As we have heard in today’s debate, most people die within two years of diagnosis. As the noble Lord, Lord Jones, reminded us, by 1970 Britain led the world in asbestos regulation, yet the British mesothelioma death rate is now the highest in the world and has yet to peak – with a further 50,000 deaths predicted. As we have all said, it is a horrible disease, and all those who have seen it will confirm that it leads to great suffering.

Just over a year ago in March and again in April I divided your Lordships’ House on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill on whether those suffering from mesothelioma should lose up to a quarter of their compensation to pay lawyers’ fees, arguing that victims could not be regarded as part of the compensation culture. Eighteen of your Lordships also joined me in a letter to the Times, in which we insisted that the Government’s claims that the proposed legislation would,

“deter frivolous and fraudulent claims is, frankly, risible as far as dying asbestos victims are concerned”.

We contrasted the Government’s proposals with the failure to deal with increasing road traffic accident claims and alleged whiplash claims, with whiplash alone costing a staggering £2 billion annually.

Your Lordships will recall that the late Lord Newton of Braintree, in his last major contribution in the House, gave his support to my amendment.

In response to a Question I put to him at that time, the Minister told the House:

“I am spending considerable time on mesothelioma currently and I hope to sort out the real problem, which is the large number of people suffering from the illness who are getting no compensation at all because they cannot trace who was insuring them”.-[Official Report, 23/4/12; col. 1549.]

This Mesothelioma Bill is a down payment on that promise.

Like others, I pay tribute to the Minister, also to the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, and to the officials who have worked with them, who have invested considerable time and effort in trying to deal with mesothelioma victims who have been unable to trace their insurers. It is a down payment rather than a comprehensive solution; for instance, it does not include the many victims of other asbestos-related diseases.

20 May 2013 : Column 715

At the briefing meeting, the Minister confirmed to me that the title of the Bill prevents any other categories being included at later stages.

Like the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, my reservations about the Bill are that average compensation payments will be reduced by approximately 30%-a point also made by the noble Lord, Lord Howarth-and that only mesothelioma sufferers diagnosed after 25 July 2012 will be eligible to apply for a payment. The Bill excludes all those diagnosed prior to 25 July 2012. At the very least, the three-year limitation period in law should apply. I hope that we will consider this in Committee.

This Bill addresses the needs of victims who cannot trace their insurers. As we have heard, that is about 300 a year, but what about all the other victims who know who their insurers are? Given that the consultation by the Ministry of Justice, which does not predicate this Bill but is certainly influenced by and connected to it, commences in July, I would be grateful if the Minister can tell us the timescale on which he envisages further changes being made, whether he can assure us that nothing will be done that will place additional burdens on the victims of this fatal disease and whether the Government see this Bill as a template that is likely to be extended.

The Mesothelioma Bill has been inextricably linked to the Ministry of Justice proposals, principally a mesothelioma pre-action protocol, which I understand that the Association of British Insurers wrote for the MoJ and which the ABI says will reduce the time of settling a claim to three months. Considerable scepticism has been expressed about the ABI claims, and I wonder whether the Government have tested those claims.

What really cut through the foot dragging, as the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, said, was Senior Master Whitaker’s ground-breaking practice direction and court procedure which get liability resolved in most cases very quickly. Surely it would have been better to fund those specialist courts and have a more effective approach using those courts than allowing for delays inherent in the proposed protocol.

I was also surprised and disappointed that although the industry has been fully involved at a formal level with the Minister in drawing up these proposals, the victim support groups were not. Many will share their view that 100% compensation-that is the full age-based, average compensation-should be paid, although I know that the Minister will insist that 70%, which it has to be said is worth more than £300 million during the next decade, is better than no payment. I have some sympathy with that, but remember that for decades it was asbestos victims who bore the burden of untraced insurance and insurers have saved hundreds of millions of pounds avoiding liability for insurances that they wrote. For decades, the taxpayer has funded the government lump-sum payments for those who could not trace their insurer, and they have recovered those payments only when an insurer was found since 2008. Prior to that, insurers recovered all government lump-sum payments which offset the compensation they paid, worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

Let me turn to my final point. As well as adequate compensation, should we not be spending more of our time and money, as was alluded to by the noble Lord,

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Lord Monks, in finding a cure to prevent the ravages of this fatal disease?

In 2011, the British Lung Foundation invested £1 million in research, the rest of the voluntary sector invested £400,000 and the Government invested nothing at all. These are scandalously small sums to spend on a disease which kills so many people. Let us contrast the £0.4 million from the not-for-profit sector spent on mesothelioma research with the £22 million for bowel cancer, the £41 million for breast cancer, the £11.5 million for lung cancer and the £32 million for leukaemia. Indeed, there are 17 other forms of cancer for which far more research resources are reserved than for mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is literally at the bottom of the list. In 2011, the voluntary sector invested £5 million in myeloma research and £5.6 million on malignant melanoma-the cancers immediately above and below mesothelioma in the table of mortality figures. Yet, even with such limited funds there have been some exciting developments, including the creation of the world’s first mesothelioma tissue bank for researchers, a transatlantic collaborative study of the genetic make-up of mesothelioma and work on overcoming resistance to drugs used to treat the disease. It shows what can be done with the right investment. This Bill offers an opportunity to create a sustainable fund for mesothelioma research to help ensure that future generations do not have to suffer in the same way that so many have in the past.

I have today given the Minister a letter, which will be circulated in your Lordships’ House tomorrow, which has been signed by 20 Members. They include the noble Lords, Lord Avebury, Lord Bach, Lord Crisp, Lord German, Lord Harris of Peckham, Lord Howarth, Lord McColl, Lord Monks, Lord Pannick, Lord Patel, Lord Tugendhat, Lord Turnberg, Lord Walton of Detchant and Lord Wigley, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Hereford, the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Greenfield, Lady Masham, and Lady Thomas of Winchester. Since the letter was written the noble Lord, Lord Kakkar, and the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, have also indicated their support. The letter underlines the breadth of support throughout the House for an amendment which will be tabled for Committee Stage on 5 June and which enjoys the support of the British Lung Foundation. It involves a small administrative or membership fee for those companies in the scheme and would raise £1.5 million annually. It would have no cost implications for the public purse, although I hope that the Government would consider providing match funding. It is, after all, receiving millions of pounds from the new scheme.

This Bill is a down payment in honouring the Government’s promise to respond to victims of mesothelioma. I welcome that, but I urge the Minister to see what more can be done within the scope of the Bill to bring justice and hope to those who are blighted by a disease that was none of their making. The truth is that we cannot eradicate all asbestos from our homes, schools, hospitals, factories and offices, but we can act justly towards those who have been afflicted by mesothelioma. The one certain way to prevent deaths from mesothelioma is to find a cure.

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South Kordofan and Blue Nile – the Killing Continues – Questions in Parliament

Posted by David Alton on

Sudan

Questions

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of displaced Sudanese people resident in Yida refugee camp; whether the camp is refusing to register new occupants; what happens to those who are not registered; and whether they have access to food, clean water and health treatment.[HL144]

Baroness Northover: The UK monitors the refugee situation in South Sudan closely. UK officials visited both the Yida settlement and the new Adjoung Thok camp in April. At the last count by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) there were approximately 71,000 registered refugees in the Yida settlement. Around 1,000 new arrivals were recorded in April 2013. Yida is currently stable with rates of acute malnutrition reported to be in decline. The location of the Yida settlement, very close to the border between Sudan and South Sudan, continues to raise serious protection concerns.

In order to reduce congestion and encourage refugees to settle in a safer location, registration modalities have been modified in Yida and a new settlement, Adjoung Thok, has been established. It is in a safer location, 70 kilometres by road from the disputed border zone of Jaw, and fully operational. All new arrivals to Yida are registered and screened. In line with Government of South Sudan policy, newly arrived refugees are not receiving assistance in Yida. Following initial registration they are offered voluntary relocation to Adjoung Thok where they are given a full ration card, with access to food, water and healthcare. However, those who qualify for family reunion or who are severely malnourished do receive assistance and protection services in Yida, before voluntarily relocating to Adjoung Thok. There are currently 938 refugees, who were initially registered in Yida but have not relocated to Adjoung Thok. We are encouraging UNHCR and partners to strengthen nutrition screening and monitoring to capture any deterioration resulting from sharing of food.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have collected evidence from refugees in Yida refugee camp about the aerial bombardment of civilians living in Blue Nile and South Kordofan; and, if so, whether they intend to make such evidence available to the International Criminal Court.[HL145]

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Baroness Warsi: We have not collected any evidence from refugees. As we made clear to the noble Lord in our previous response by the then Minister of State, the noble Lord Howell of Guildford, on 23 July 2012, Official Report, col. WAl22, any gathering of evidence should be carefully carried out by appropriate experts, ensuring the safety of those providing evidence and meeting the criteria for admissible evidence of relevance and reliability.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the World Health Organisation and UNICEF were last able to deliver vaccines and medicines, under the auspices of the Government of Sudan, to combat and treat leprosy and tuberculosis in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile region of Sudan; and what are the implications of a failure to continue immunisation programmes in those areas.[HL146]

Baroness Northover: Vaccines and drugs continue to be delivered through government programmes in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. However, vaccines and drugs are not being delivered in parts of these states that are outside government control.  A large number of children particularly will not have been vaccinated in the past two years, and this increases the risk of outbreaks of vaccine preventable disease.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what reports they have received about aerial bombardment of Blue Nile region and South Kordofan by the Government of Sudan, including any attempts to bomb trucks taking food into the areas.[HL147]

Baroness Warsi: We are deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (North) and the Government of Sudan, which includes reporting of bombardments and shelling of towns by both sides, and by the impact this has on civilians. We are not aware of food trucks being specifically targeted. We continue to urge both sides to negotiate in good faith at the talks in Addis Ababa, which are due to resume under African Union auspices in coming weeks. The ongoing violence, as well as restrictions by both sides, prevents access to conflict-affected areas.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the numbers of people (1) killed, (2) paralysed, or (3) in need of prosthesis as a result of losing limbs, following aerial bombardment of villages in South Kordofan and Blue Nile region; and what assistance is being provided to those people.[HL148]

Baroness Warsi: Without full access to both states, it is not possible to assess the full scale of those killed, paralysed or in need of prosthetics. The UK has consistently made it clear to the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North that they should negotiate a full ceasefire that leads to full humanitarian access. This will allow us to better

21 May 2013 : Column WA72

understand what help is needed, and to ensure that independent humanitarian agencies can start to provide the assistance required to all those in need.

The UK will provide approximately £1.3 million to the World Food Programme to support about 5,700 people in Blue Nile State with food assistance until December 2013. We are planning to undertake a monitoring visit by officials soon.

Asked by Lord Avebury

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what sources they use when making their assessment of the situation in Darfur.[HL160]

Baroness Warsi: The UK uses a wide range of sources to assess the situation in Darfur. This includes reporting from the African Union UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), UN development and humanitarian agencies, the UN Panel of Experts and non-governmental organisations working in Darfur. We also discuss the situation directly with the Government of Sudan, the Darfur Regional Authority, opposition political parties, representatives of the rebel armed groups, diaspora with contacts in Darfur, academics and civil society. We exchange information with the African Union, the US, the EU and other international partners. Our officials regularly visit Darfur to meet a range of contacts including ordinary Darfuris, and carry out our own assessment of the situation.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish their assessment of the outcomes and effectiveness of the United Kingdom Government-funded programme for the Sudanese National Police force aimed at developing a concept of community policing, including measurement, monitoring and evaluation criteria applied in their assessment. [HL222]

Baroness Northover: DfID publishes annual reviews, project completion reports and evaluation reports.

An annual review for DfID support to community policing interventions under the Safety and Access to Justice Programme is available on DfID’s website. This includes information on how the review was carried out and the indicators used. We are continuing to assess the effectiveness of our support to community policing in Sudan through independent reviews.

Asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Amnesty International report Sudan: Civilians Caught in Unending Crisis In Southern Khordofan, and in particular its criticism of conditions at the Yida refugee camp; and what assessment they have made of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recommendation that refugees should relocate from Yida to other camps at Jam Jang. [HL224]

Baroness Northover: We are aware of the Amnesty International report and the recommendations made concerning UN High Commissioner for Refugee’s (UNHCR) management of the Yida settlement. We are

21 May 2013 : Column WA73

concerned about the proximity of the Yida settlement to the Sudan-South Sudan border and the risk that it will become increasingly overcrowded.  We support the decision of the Government of South Sudan and UNHCR to encourage relocation away from Yida and to open a new camp at Adjoung Thok, which UNHCR sees as a safer location, given its increased distance, particularly by road, from the insecure border region. We support UNHCR’s focus on the provision of life-saving assistance and protection at Yida, but welcome the fact that the full package of refugee services will be available at Adjoung Thok.

 

Gladys Aylward, the little woman, and China’s Inn of The Sixth Happiness

Posted by David Alton on

 

Gladys Aylward - the little woman

Gladys Aylward – the little woman

The Inn of The Sixth Happiness - which gives a distorted account of Gladys Aylward's life

The Inn of The Sixth Happiness – which gives a distorted account of Gladys Aylward’s life

The Inn of The Sixth Happiness - Gladys Aylward was no Ingrid Bergman

The Inn of The Sixth Happiness – Gladys Aylward was no Ingrid Bergman

Gladys Aylward with her orphans

Gladys Aylward with her orphans

Gladys Aylward with her orphans - fleeing from the Japanese army

Gladys Aylward with her orphans – fleeing from the Japanese army

Gladys Aylward with her orphans - fleeing from the Japanese army

Gladys Aylward with her orphans – fleeing from the Japanese army

Gladys Aylward

Gladys Aylward

Gladys-Aylward 5

There is a lovely movie, staring Ingrid Bergman, called “The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.” Made in 1958 it celebrates the remarkable life of a petite woman, born in 1902 in Edwardian England, called Gladys Aylward. It’s a charming film but on recently reading a biography of Miss Aylward I realised that the Hollywood make-over does not do justice to, and sometimes distorts, the real story of this brave and determined Christian missionary.
For one thing, the casting of a tall Swede is entirely at variance with the small woman from Edmonton who spoke with a broad cockney accent. But the movie also takes any number of liberties with the story itself. Once she tells them of her plans to go to China we entirely lose the tensions that erupt between Gladys Aylward and her family and the film then invents an effortless introduction between a Gladys’ employer and an old friend in China. Perhaps most tellingly of all, in addition to changes made to any number of characters and places the movie revolves around the Inn of the Sixth Happiness while the actual setting was the Inn of Eight Happinesses – taking its name from a Chinese numeral thought to be auspicious.
When the film first appeared Gladys Aylward was upset by the portrayal of Colonel Linnan – a brave Chinese soldier who was wrongly presented as half European – and distressed by an invented Hollywood love scene and the suggestion that she had left her work with her orphans to be happily reunited with the Colonel. For a woman who had decided early on to give her entire life to God, and who had never even kissed a man, she believed her reputation to have been sullied. Her work with orphans also continued until 1970, when she died, having by then founded the Gladys Aylward orphanage in Taiwan.

The real story of Gladys Aylward is one which deserves to be told with all its hard edges and without taking liberties with its powerful narrative.
Here is a working class parlour maid who dreams of becoming an actress but instead reads an article about China and about the millions of Chinese people who had never heard about Christianity. Having felt God’s call to go to China Gladys is rebuffed by her family, friends and church. The missionary society told her that her “qualifications were too slight, my education too limited, and the language far too difficult to learn.”
Meanwhile, she goes to work in a house where two old retired missionaries live and at last she receives some encouragement. They tell her to “keep on watching and praying.” She does, and begins saving to pay the £47-10p single train fare from London to Tientsin in China. To go by ship would have cost twice as much.
Small unexpected things now began to happen to Gladys.
Her savings multiplied, giving her the fare in months instead of the anticipated three years. In 1932, completely alone, she began a perilous journey across Russia and Siberia, into war zones occupied by the Japanese. Near the Manchurian border she was made to leave the train and nearly froze to death and she admitted that “for the first time real doubts came to mind.” She felt God telling her not to be afraid and that He was with her.
She was forced to walk back along the railway track to a junction and, later, some Russians tried to abduct her. She also saw fifty people, many of them girls, in chains being taken to Siberia to Stalin’s camps – “from that moment I hated Communism with all my being:”  – hated Communism but loved the people who lived in the lands in which the ideology came to dominate.
After further tribulations Gladys Aylward eventually made it to Tientsin where she went to work with a Scot, Jeannie Lawson, who was trying to turn a dilapidated building into an inn where muleteers would stay overnight and where, with good food and hospitality, they could hear stories from the Bible as they ate. This was how Gladys Aylward came to quickly become fluent in the Chinese language.
After Lawson’s death she continued with the inn but she was also asked by the Government’s senior regional official, the Mandarin, to work with him. He gave her the task of helping him to outlaw the traditional foot-binding of Chinese girls.
Men thought tiny feet were attractive but women’s foot-binding often led to deformities and crippling disabilities. Gladys Aylward helped the Mandarin to end the practice in their province and as she travelled from village to village she evangelised the people she met. An encounter on the side of a road also led her to start rescuing children who were being abandoned or sold. To save the life of one little girl she gave all the money she had: “So Ninepence came into my life and helped to fill the aching void.”

A few months later Ninepence brought in a little boy from the street and the orphans multiplied.
Later, Gladys Aylward became involved in prison reform – and her biography records stories of extraordinary conversions – from hardened criminals to a prison governor, a rebel leader, and even the Mandarin himself. Her encounter with a remote monastery of Buddhist lamas – who told her that they had been waiting for her – is particularly touching.
In 1936 she was given Chinese citizenship and became officially known as A-weh-deh – meaning “virtuous one.” Two years later the Japanese invaded and they put a price on her head. She was wounded in the fighting but led over 100 orphans on a perilous journey over the mountains to safety. Suffering a complete collapse of her health she was diagnosed with relapsing fever, typhus, pneumonia, malnutrition and utter exhaustion. For over a month she was barely conscious.
She would later write that “My heart is full of praise that one so insignificant, uneducated and ordinary in every way could be used to His glory and for the blessing of His people in poor persecuted China.”

That Christianity has become so influential in today’s China is in no small measure a result of the powerful witness and dedicated work of men and women like Gladys Aylward. But her story also underlines the truth of the Psalmist’s prediction that “the stone which the builder has rejected has become the corner stone.”

A Faith Worth Dying For Is Worth Living For - Don't forget the price Christians paid in Eastern Europe

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A Faith Worth Dying For Is Worth Living For  - Don't forget the price Christians paid in Eastern Europe

By David Alton

Eighty two years ago the Romanian parents of a newly born boy gave him the Christian name Tertullian. It would prove to be an appropriate name. For the suffering of Tertullian Ioan Langa would lend new weight to his namesake’s famous dictum, 

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MOTEC come to Westmisnter to Launch their NUWLIFE project for tackling malnurishment among children in Ghana’s Upper Western Region of Jirapa

Posted by David Alton on

David Alton - Patron of Motec

David Alton – Patron of Motec

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords - Dr.Louisa Draper, Motec Trustee, explains the NUWLIFE project

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords – Dr.Louisa Draper, Motec Trustee, explains the NUWLIFE project

Malnurishment in Africa - 1 billion people could be fed with the food we waste; another billion could be fed if we tackled obesity

Malnurishment in Africa – 1 billion people could be fed with the food we waste; another billion could be fed if we tackled obesity

MOTEC celebrated May Day with a reception at Westminster to Launch their NUWLIFE project for tackling malnurishment among children in Ghana’s Upper Western Region of Jirapa.

MOTEC’s Patron, David Alton (Lord Alton of Liverpool) said his main message was that “just because you can’t solve the problems of the entire world, it’s not a reason for refusing to solve any of them; we need a combination of heart and head” and that ” the Jewish Rabbi who said “the man or woman who saves a single life, saves the world”, was right.

Lord Alton said that:

“The United Nations Development Programme say we must develop more effective nutritional programmes, which is exactly what NUWLIFE is trying to do in Ghana:

The great challenge is for countries to develop co-ordinated programmes of intervention which boost nutrition,  expand access to health services, education, sanitation and clean water.  International agencies rightly argue, based on empirical research, that mothers’ education is a more powerful factor in driving down rates of malnutrition in children than household income.

The desperate need is demonstrated by a few key facts:

870 million people in the world do not have enough to eat. This number has fallen by 130 million since 1990, but progress slowed after 2008.

The vast majority of hungry people (98 percent) live in developing countries, where almost 15% of the population is undernourished.

If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.

Under-nutrition contributes to 2.6 million deaths of children under five each year – one third of the global total.
One out of six children — roughly 100 million — in developing countries is underweight.

One in four of the world’s children are stunted. In developing countries the proportion can rise to one in three.
80 percent of the world’s stunted children live in just 20 countries.

66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.

WFP calculates that US$3.2 billion is needed per year to reach all 66 million hungry school-age children.

Sub Saharan Africa desperately needs projects to tackle these challenges. Its social and health projects must keep up with Africa’s significant economic progress – evidenced in an average 5% growth in GDP across the continent.

Despite boasting some of the world’s quickest expanding economies, as well as improvements in life expectancy and schooling, there has not been a corresponding uplift in food security and in eradicating malnutrition.

UNICEF reminded us last month that adequate nutrition in the first 1000 days is crucial to development.


Compare our failure to provide nutrition to malnourished babies with the food we waste in the developed world. A recent report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers suggested that an additional billion people could be fed if we stopped wasting food. As much as half of all food produced in the world – around 2 billion tonnes – is disposed of as waste, while people are malnourished or starve to death.


Their report, Global Food; Waste Not, Want Not, discovered that between 30% and 50% or 1.2-2bn tonnes of the world’s food production never reaches a plate or a stomach.


Another report, by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine examined obesity in the USA and Europe and found that if we tackled obesity it would produce enough food for another 1 billion people.

The Lancet reported that the World Health Organization predicts the obese population will double by 2015 to 700m. In the UK, nearly a quarter of adults are classed obese, twice as many as there were in the 1980s.

Mahatma Gandhi, was right when he said of our insatiable appetite for endless consumption, that there is “sufficient in this world for people’s needs but not for their greeds”.

 Motec know all this but with a combination of heart and head is doing something about it. Its project in Jirapa deserves our support. It’s wonderful that they have brought their message into the heart of Parliament.”

Lord Alton introduced Motec’s founder and President of Motec Life UK, Dr.Paul Ofori-Atta, who said that the purpose of the evening was to focus  on the plight of malnourished children in sub-Saharan Africa:
My Lord, Professor David Alton- chief patron of Motec Life UK, noble member of Parliament Sir Tony Baldry, honourable representatives of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ghana, His Excellency Professor Danso-Boafo Ghana High Commissioner represented by Mr Peter Taylor, Head of Political & Economic Affairs, His Worshipful Mayor of the Borough of Dacorum, Councillor Herbert Chapman and Mrs Chapman, co-patrons Mr Peter Dyson of Hertfordshire and Mrs Dyson, and Mrs Marian Barnor Chair, Board of Directors, Merchant bank of Ghana, Accra, Mr Emmanuel Akuffo MBE, Patron, Ghana Doctors and Dentist Association of UK, and wife Mrs Akuffo, colleagues, my elegant wife Gladys, comrade Trustees of Motec Life –UK, the modern nightingale of nursing Mrs Georgina Gaisie, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I join Right Honourable David Alton in welcoming you to this evening’s reception.

This event has been facilitated by Lord Alton and we are very grateful to him for this esteemed privilege.
I consider myself blessed, and indeed humbled to stand before you this evening, on the occasion of ‘May Day call’ on behalf of Motec and malnourished children across the globe, especially impoverished sub-Saharan Africa. And what a place to choose to remind ourselves of the plight of the impoverished families and children – the institution of fairness, where important international changes are made, ratified and implemented – the House of Lords. Today, we are gathered here to focus on malnutrition in the world especially sub-Saharan Africa with the hope that our little efforts can have far reaching benefits.
Ghana has contributed to the medical vocabulary and focus on malnutrition, by naming one of the disease conditions ‘kwashiorkor’. The name comes from the Ga language of Accra, and describes the unsightly, bloated-plump-child syndrome, which occurs when attention is swapped from the preceding baby to the one that has just been born. Kwashiorkor is protein deficient–high calorie malnutrition, one of the most serious and most widespread forms of malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to statistics from the Ghana Health Service, 60% of the 10.5 million deaths per annum of children under the age of five worldwide, is caused by malnutrition. 30% of the children are stunted, 22% are underweight and 6% of children aged between six months and five years have severe anaemia (Health 28 October 2005, Ghana Health Service). About 12,000 children in Ghana alone die each year from malnutrition. The statistics also indicate that under-nutrition contributes to about half of all child deaths beyond early infancy whilst one out of every thirteen children in Ghana die before their fifth birthday mostly as a result of under-nutrition (Ghana Health News, Sept. 22, 2012).

We note that Ghana has enjoyed sustained economic growth in recent years, however, this favourable situation has not filtered down to where it is most needed, leaving the health and nutrition status of many vulnerable children in dire straits. It is so serious that Ghana organized a workshop on Nutrition Advocacy Communications under the theme ‘Build the Future, Invest Now in Nutrition’ in 2012.

The situation is very uncomfortable looking across the sub-region.
Today we want to highlight the need for governments to continue to play a major role and to provide support for non-governmental organisations in the prevention of, and the fight against malnutrition in children. We intend to share with you our thoughts, joys, experiences, and wisdom from the shortfalls and failures that we came across in our work, in one of the harshest and poorest environments in the world, the Jirapa District of Ghana. This is a district with a population of about 100,000 people living in an area of about 1,400km square. The plight of these people attracted Comic relief to visit the district in February 2012, during which education was looked into. The issues of malnutrition and direct health care were not touched. We have identified the contribution nutrition and education could make in supporting children in our NUWLIFE project. We want Nutrition to Work for Life and we are working with the local chief (Naa Ansoleh Ganaa II), the local hospital Jirapa St Joseph’s district hospital and the people of Jirapa, to facilitate a sustainable support for the children and their families.
We recognise that life is not worthwhile unless it has been useful and made a positive difference to the people we see or never get to know.
We are here today because we care, and want to be counted among those who touch the lives of people in need.
We want to be filled with renewed dedication to humanity, with the hope that we will continue to support good causes.
We want to be inspired by this dynamic house and the people who work in it, like Rt Honourable David Alton and influence good changes in the world.
Above all, in the true spirit of this House, we are here to be part of the history that focuses minds to diminish, and eventually abolish one of the cruellest forms of preventable disease that this modern world has ever witnessed – food deprivation in the midst of plenty, with the unnecessary loss of young lives, at a time when we as a nation, are seeing huge quantities of food being destroyed.
Motec’s Trustee responsible for education and international affairs Dr Louisa Draper will recall the journey that we have been through the past few years. We have been supported throughout this journey by The Ghana High Commission and Lord Alton, from whom we have enjoyed responsible inspirational and unadulterated guidance. It is no surprise that Lord Alton is Professor of good citizenship at Liverpool John Moores University.
We appreciate the contributions that Lord Alton, our consortium of patrons, health workers and the British public especially the people of the Borough of Dacorum, have made in support of the NUWLIFE project.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy.
My Lord, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Let us enjoy our evening to the full, as we draw the attention of the world to the children muted by hunger. We can lend them a voice and a hand of friendship for a healthy start in life and hope for the future.

Thank you.

www.moteclife.co.uk

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords - with Dr.Paul Ofori-Atta, President of Motec.

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords – with Dr.Paul Ofori-Atta, President of Motec.

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords - with Dr.Paul Ofori-Atta, President of Motec.

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords – with Dr.Paul Ofori-Atta, President of Motec.

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords - Dr.Louisa Draper, Motec Trustee, explains the NUWLIFE project

MOTEC reception at the House of Lords – Dr.Louisa Draper, Motec Trustee, explains the NUWLIFE project

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveilled

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveilled

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveilled

MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

Cllr.and Mrs.Herbert Chapman, the Mayor 0f Dacorum at the MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

Cllr.and Mrs.Herbert Chapman, the Mayor 0f Dacorum at the MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

The House of Lords MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

The House of Lords MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

The House of Lords MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

The House of Lords MOTEC reception at which the NUWLIFE project was unveiled

Supporters of MOTEC gathered at Westminster to launch their latest project in northern Ghana

Supporters of MOTEC gathered at Westminster to launch their latest project in northern Ghana

A new report just released from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) “Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress” focuses attention on this remarkable ‘window of opportunity’ during which adequate nutrition, vitamins and minerals can prevent irreversible physical and cognitive developmental damage.